European soccer players are notorious for faking injuries in order to kill time or get a beneficial call. I have tons of examples at the ready, but Rivaldo's "simulation" (official term for taking a dive in order to earn a free kick) in the 2002 World Cup may be the best example. (Note: if this link breaks, go to YouTube and search "Rivaldo fake injury" or something like that.)
If you couldn't tell exactly what went on, a player from Turkey kicked the ball towards/at Rivaldo because Brazil had a corner kick. The ball hit Rivaldo's upper leg on the fly, but Rivaldo pretended that he had been hit in the face and went down holding his nose. The referee inexplicably bought it, and gave the player from Turkey a red card. (Not sure whether that was a straight red or the second yellow card, but either way it's an unjust result.) How did the linesman not see what happened?! This is a World Cup match!! Terrible.
As a soccer player, these faked injuries embarrass me. Why would Americans want to watch a game where the players act so cowardly? Hell, these players' dives have turned me off from "the beautiful game," as soccer is known--I can't imagine a typical person wanting to tune in. What's worse is that American sports have caught the simulation disease. Basketball may be the best example. Take a look at a clip from yesterday's Bulls-Heat playoff game:
Let me make this clear: that's the league's best player blatantly pretending to have been fouled. He even winks at his bench shortly thereafter. Pathetic. It's not one isolated instance, either--and it's certainly not limited to LeBron James. Superstars across the league (Pau Gasol, Manu Ginobili, etc.) fall to the ground in agony without the slightest touch. It makes the NBA even less watchable. It's bad enough that the faces of the league whine to the referees at every opportunity (Kobe, Dwyane Wade, and Duncan are the most egregious offenders, though every team has at least one crybaby)...now we have to watch them topple like a house of cards?
I wish David Stern (the Commissioner of the league) would put a stop to this nonsense. Simply give the referees the authority to hit the flopper with a technical foul. The refs wouldn't dole out too many, because it's difficult to tell whether a player is taking a dive or not, but the mere threat of the punishment should deter the players from acting. You know who would love this rule? Players like LeBron, who suffers from this plague of simulation way more often than they benefit. I guarantee the superstars would love to get rid of flopping, but they can't just lead by example. It's akin to the Prisoner's Dilemma--why cooperate when you have no guarantees your partner in crime will do the same? If you have an outside authority step in and force the prisoners to cooperate, everyone wins. The Commish can be that strong hand to ensure that no one flops. The game will be better as a result. After all, do we really want the NBA to devolve into stuff like this?
Hell, no.
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